Leverkusen’s best ... Bailey tops German club’s mid-season ranking
German club Bayer Leverkusen has named Jamaican striker Leon Bailey as its best player for the ‘Hinrunde’ – the period that covers the first half of the Bundesliga season.
Leverkusen made the announcement yesterday, praising the Jamaican for his impact from Rounds 1-17, with Bailey contributing six goals and five assists in 967 minutes of play during the period.
Bailey, 20, has caught the eye of the world’s top clubs after his impressive start to a Bundesliga campaign that has seen him average 2.6 shots per game; 1.9 key passes per game; and 1.7 successful dribbles per game, according to noted football statistics resource WhoScored.
“Leon Bailey’s first half of the season has been hot,” the club noted through a post on Twitter. “Leon Bailey is our man of the Hinrunde!! Looking forward to a hot second half of the season,” they added, on both occasions replacing the word ‘hot’ with the corresponding emoji.
In his last five Bundesliga games, Bailey was directly involved in five goals (three goals and two assists).
With 63 strikes towards goal, Bailey is also the Leverkusen player with the most shots in the first half of the season.
In fact, only four players in the entire league took more shots than Bailey – Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski (87); Borussia Monchengladbach’s Thorgan Hazard (78); Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (72); and Augsburg’s Alfred Finnbogason (64).
SCORES OF ASSISTS
Additionally, only Aubameyang (83 minutes) and Lewandowski (92 minutes) boast a better rate of being involved in a goal than Bailey, who either scores or assists every 97 minutes.
Bayer Leverkusen’s coach, Heiko Herrlich, was full of praise for the young Jamaican, who he highlighted for his selfless contributions.
“His forward play is extraordinary, but he also works well defensively as well. It should be noted that it is unusual for a player of his type to be so unselfish and willing to always works for the team,” said Hellrich.
Bailey is currently on holiday in Jamaica, where he is working out with his father, Craig Butler, at his Phoenix Academy. He is expected to return to Germany in a few days to begin preparation for the second half of the season.